The guitarist on the songs that defined and inspired his musical life…

The first song I remember hearing... Off The Wall - Michael Jackson

“My mom listened to a lot of soul, R&B and Motown, so I remember hearing early Michael Jackson, Jackson 5, a lot of Prince, some Temptations, some Cream. I remember the song Off The Wall - when I think of my childhood, I remember hearing that all the time, so it must have percolated and permeated my brain!”

The song I wish I’d written… The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel

“I remember when I was a kid, being really impressed with Paul Simon’s guitar playing - I still am! He’s one of the most underrated players. His fi ngerpicking and his chording, and the way he writes is just incredible. And what just stuck with me is hearing The Sound Of Silence for the fi rst time… I always remember being struck by his guitar playing.”

My favourite song to cover… The Hanging Garden - The Cure

“Either Ziggy Stardust, or The Hanging Garden by the Cure - which is a really old one [AFI covered it on 1998’s A Fire Inside EP]. I was just talking to Davey [Havok] about that one the other day, actually, and about putting it back in [to the set], because it’s such a fun thing to do.”

The song I could never quite master… Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix

“I don’t really try to play that much of other people’s stuff , but I did learn Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix, but I couldn’t quite get it, so I sort’ve took Jimi’s version and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version and kind of hacked it up so I could at least get the nuances. That’s my favourite Hendrix song, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version is really beautiful, too - so it turned out really cool!”

To introduce someone to our band I’d play them… Bleed Black - AFI

“We’ve had an eclectic mix of stuff over the years that really runs the gamut, but the first thing that comes to mind is one off Sing The Sorrow called Bleed Black - because that has tempo, flow… it has half-time, melodic bits… it kinda has a bit of everything of us.”

The song I play when trying out new gear… Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits

“If I was sitting down with some new gear, I’d just do some general shredding, which I like to do, even though I don’t bring a lot of that into AFI, because I don’t think it’s appropriate for that type of band. I’ll just sit here for an hour and solo by myself! But also, I’ll play the first solo section of Sultans Of Swing [laughs] - that’s such a beautiful guitar sound, y’know? And you don’t want some super-heavy guitar tone to test stuff out!”

My favourite guitar solo is… Angel Of Death - Slayer

“There’s a couple, because stylistically you can do so many things in a guitar solo. One of my favourites of all time is Slayer’s Angel Of Death, because it’s just insane… and then it just gets more insane as it goes on until it’s SO over the top.”

AFI’s new album, AFI (The Blood Album), is out now on Concord Music Group records.